Infection
by Zoja
Summary: An unknown virus appeares in the town, and the doctors can't do anything to stop it from causing deaths. The OSIR comes to investigate and help. C/L.


**A/N: **I'm not a doctor, I'm not even good at biology (actually, I'm horrible at it). However I always loved the topic of the dangerous viruses, and decided to write something like this. That's what I got, with a little help from my friend, Ania, who gave me a lot of advices, for what I thank her.

* * *

_Meadow Lake, Missouri. _

„Tony, wake up!" Suzanne Peterson knocked to her son's bedroom's door.

She went down to the kitchen, and started preparing breakfast for him, as she has already eaten. She put the pot with milk onto the cooker to warm it up and poured her son's favourite chocolate cereals into the bowl. She looked at the electric clock, which was standing on the cupboard and groaned. She has overslept and was going to be late for work for sure, and now, if Tony doesn't get up quickly, they will be also late for his school.

"Tony, come on!" She poured the warm milk into the bowl, then went up and knocked to the boy's door again.

When he didn't answer she went inside and saw a bundle on a bed. She went closer feeling the anger come to her, when she realised that Tony didn't even bother to get out of the bed. The boy was completely covered by quilt and she touched the place where his arm should be, and shook him. She heard a moan escape his mouth and he turned on the bed. He was lying on the back now and she saw that his whole face was covered with sweat, his cheeks red, and when she touched his forehead she noticed that it was hot. But what distressed her the most was that the skin on his face was a bit blue.

"Oh my god, Tony!" She shouted terrified, and kneeled next to the bed.

She uncovered him and put his pyjama top up, revealing his belly. It was much more blue than his face. She checked his whole body and every part of it had the same colour. She ran to the bathroom, and took the thermometer to check how high was his temperature. Every time she touched him, he was moaning in pain. After few minutes she looked at the thermometer and almost dropped it – it showed almost one hundred and two degrees.

She immediately took Tony into her arms and almost ran down the stairs, and then to the car. She sat Tony on the back seat and fastened his belt. Then she also got into the car and as fast as possible, drove to the hospital.

"My son! Help me, please!" She ran to the first nurse she saw when she got there, and the woman looked at Tony.

He was taken to the other room and the doctor almost immediately came to him. He examined him and ordered to make tests, most of which Suzanne didn't know.

"I have to admit that I hadn't seen anything like this during the whole twenty years I work as a doctor." He said to Suzanne and even more tears came to the woman's eyes. "But don't worry, we'll find out what's happening and he will be fine. We have to wait for tests results. For now he got the mean to lower his temperature, but I can't give him anything if I don't know what kind of illness it is." Suzanne nodded her head in understanding "I'm going to leave you now, you can stay with him of course, and I'll be back when I know something."

The man left the room, and Suzanne sat on the stool next to the bed where Tony was lying. She looked at him – his whole face was wet and his face expression was showing that he was in pain, his eyes closed, mouth open and dry, and his cheeks red. She gently touched his forehead and brushed the hair away from his face. She was holding and caressing his hand, talking to him, but he didn't even say a word to her. He was only opening his eyes from time to time and looking at her sadly for a while, before closing them again.

After some time the nurse came to check if his temperature lowered. She didn't need to use the thermometer, as even the boy's appearance suggested that it was still very high, and the instrument only showed that it wasn't even half degree lower. Suzanne felt horrible, when she saw the doctors debating over her son. They didn't have to tell her anything to let her know that they didn't really know what is going on. Nothing they had given him worked, and his tests results weren't bad – he had only a bit low level of red blood cells, and the unknown virus in his blood.

In the afternoon two more children came to the hospital, seven years old twin girls Allyson and Ashley Stewart, and both of them had the same symptoms. The difference between them and Tony was that their states were much worse – Ashley's temperature was a bit over one hundred and four degrees, her body deep blue, and she had troubles with breathing, while her sister was only a bit better. Suzanne looked at them when they were put in the room next to Tony's – sometimes she was seeing them play on the playground in front of the school, and knew that they were living in the children's home because they parents have died in the car accident and they didn't have any different living relations.

Suzanne didn't want to leave her son's bed even for a while, but she had to when the nurse came and took Tony for more test. As the woman suggested, she went to the hospital's cafeteria and bought something to eat. She hadn't notice how hungry she was until she bite the sandwich. When she came back she noticed, that Tony wasn't there yet, so she decided to wait on the corridor for him. During this time she saw few more parents come with their children – she knew few of them, but mostly they were completely strangers for her.

"Nurse!" One of the mothers shouted, when her son had started to shake in her arms.

Nurses and doctors immediately ran to her and laid the boy on the bed, but he was shaking harder and harder, and anything they were doing helped. Suddenly he stopped, with his eyes wide open, his mouth completely dry. The black liquid slowly streamed down from his nose.

"He's not breathing!" somebody shouted and they started the reanimation.

Suzanne listened to the scene terrified, just like all of the people present in the room. She sat down, when she noticed the doctors go out angry – that could mean only that they were not able to save the boy.

The O.S.I.R. van stopped in front of the hospital in Meadow Lake. They were asked to investigate the strange virus that was found in the town, which the doctor's couldn't find a way to deal with. It was found only in this place, and wasn't similar to any of the known viruses in the world. During the last few days, about thirty people were delivered – at first only children, but then also adults started to get ill.

Connor Doyle went out of the car, followed by Lindsay Donner, Peter Axon, Anton Hendricks and Claire Davison. They noticed the older man standing in front of the entrance and looking into their direction.

"I'm really glad you came here." He said, when they all went closer to him "My name is Alan Philips, I'm the hospital's director."

"I'm Connor Doyle. This is Lindsay Donner, Claire Davison, Anton Hendricks and Peter Axon."

They went into the building and Connor went to talk with Alan more, while Anton and Claire went to see the patients, Lindsay to talk to people, and Peter decided to check the area for any abnormal signs. Lindsay, with the later help from Connor, interviewed practically all of the people who could knew anything – the doctors, nurses, parents. It was impossible to talk to patients, as they actually didn't have the contact with environment. It didn't give them much information about the virus and it's possibly origin, but a lot about symptoms and the course of illness.

"What we know for sure is how the illness is processing. At first, the infected person has a high temperature and the skin is bluish. With the passing time the blue colour is getting more intensive, the temperature increasing, and troubles with breathing are starting. Everything finishes with the attack of shaking, which ends with the death and the blood is trickling out of the nose. It has a black colour. The worst is that none medicaments can ease the symptoms. One of the doctors told me that they tried every mean to lower temperature that exists and anything worked."

"I watched the blood under the microscope. The black colours is caused by the viruses. They reproduce, and kill the red blood cells. It must be the reason for the blue colour of the bodies, because without erythrocytes, the oxygen is not transported anywhere." Anton added.

"And we have no common points for the patients. At first only children were getting ill, but now it's not the rule, as there are also adults and older people. They live in various places of town, they work in different places, the children are not from the same school..."

"I didn't find anything, but a man I met on the way told me about the meadow, where suddenly appeared the strange circle. He said that it looks like the grass was burnt there. I was trying to check it, but I couldn't find it..." Peter said and spread the map he had on the table "He said that it's here" he pointed to the place in the middle of forest, and very near the lake "This forest is so dense that it's very difficult to go through it. But I also heard that a lot of people go there, especially when there is a good weather, just like now."

"It would be good to check the place." Connor said, and looked at the watch "Anton, Claire, you'd go back to the hospital, they will need everyone who can help, and if anything changes you will inform us. Peter, go to the sheriff. Ask him to show you any suspicious places."

The three people went out of the conference room and Lindsay looked questioningly at Connor.

"Should I go with Peter?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"No. You're going with me. We'll try to find the meadow."

Immediately, when Claire and Anton came back to the hospital, they had their hands full of work. They were doing everything they could to help the doctors, but what wouldn't they do, nothing was working. It was horrible for them to look at all these people who were suffering because of the strange illness. Everything they knew, and that was actually useful, was that it wasn't transferred by the contact with infected people, so they didn't have to worry about also getting ill. They could be with patients all the time, helping them not only by medicaments, but also by comforting words or – sometimes in cases of children – a comforting hug.

Every hour a few more infected people were coming to the hospital, as it was the only one around. All of the staff knew that soon there will not be enough beds and rooms for everybody. They will have to start mixing women and men in one room, but when there won't be enough place there for everybody, they would probably have to be put on the corridors. The worst thing was that nobody knew how he or she had actually caught the virus, so it was impossible to block the spreading of it. They could only tell people to be careful, but it was actually impossible to bring success, as they had no idea what they should warn the people before.

Claire went into the doctor's room and sat on the couch, which was standing there. She had a short moment of peace and rest, which she knew wouldn't last long, because the nurse will come any minute, informing her that somebody new had come or one of the patients has an attack. She sighed, feeling horrible. She probably didn't feel so helpless and useless during the whole time she worked as a doctor.

"Doctor Davison, you're needed in the room eighteen, one of the girls has an attack of cough and can't catch a breath." The door opened and she saw a young nurse with a terrified face.

She nodded, and followed her to the room. She wasn't surprised by seeing all of the hospital staff worried and scared – they were fighting with the virus without weapon, and there was no chance that they could win this fight if the infection won't stop by itself. She went past Anton, who was now standing over the shaking older woman, trying to calm her. What all of the doctors working there had learnt since the first patient came was that shaking meant the upcoming death, and there was practically no way to prevent it from happening. But even with this knowledge they were always trying, praying for the miracle. Claire sighed again, when she went inside the room eighteen.

Connor stopped the car at the edge of the forest, where the road was ending. According to the map Lindsay was holding in her hands, it was the closest place to the meadow they could get to by car. They both got out of it, and started to go forward, right into the forest.

"It's getting darker..." Lindsay said, as they were going deeper into the forest "We're already walking for fifteen minutes and there is nothing. I have no idea where did Peter take this map from, but it's horrible. It shows that we should already reach the place twice in this time!".

"It can mean, that there _is_ actually something." Connor looked around "Did you notice how silent the place is? There are no animals... Maybe there is something that hides the place from those, who want to find it..."

"Hey, look there!" Lindsay pointed to the brighter place at the right, and when they came closer they noticed not very large, but still quite big grassy space without trees, but surrounded by them.

"What's this?" asked Lindsay, when they were already standing on it. Exactly in the middle of it she could see a dark bundle dirty with some kind of strange, yellow-green substance. She noticed that Connor didn't hear her, as he was standing in completely different place and looking at something. She slowly approached the thing and noticed a pale, skinny arm coming out of the dark fabric.

She immediately kneeled next to the bundle and she had no doubts that this have to be a small girl, as it was very small and the dark fabric was a gray dress. She caught the arm and pulled it in her direction – the child rotated onto the back and she noticed that the yellow-green substance was around the girl's head. It looked like slippery, sticky goo, but Lindsay didn't hesitate to try to wipe it off. In the same moment her hand touched it, a cloud of black, very fine powder was ejected out of it.

Connor heard the strange hiss and turned around. He noticed Lindsay kneeling on the grass next to something, and something black was suddenly thrown at her.

"Lindsay!" He shouted and started to run in her direction. Around the middle of the distance between them he noticed something even stranger. It looked like some kind of a liquid jumped into the air, and landed few meters behind Lindsay. He reached the place she was at and kneeled next to her. "Are you okay?" he asked when she stopped coughing.

Her eyes immediately went to the girl lying right in front of her, and she noticed a pair of light, blue eyes looking at her weakly. There was a very clearly visible fear in her eyes, but she didn't move or say anything. The girl's hair was dirty with the rest of the strange substance and she was whole covered in mud.

"We have to take her to the hospital." Lindsay said, and Connor nodded, lifting the girl up from the ground, for what she reacted with a little moan.

"She looks like she hasn't any symptoms of the illness, beside the weakness." Connor said, looking at the child in his arms when they were going to the car.

"We don't know how long she was here, they can appear later." Lindsay said, also looking at the girl "But did you see what she had on her head? It looked... alive... When I touched it, it reacted and throw this black powder at me, and I could swear I saw it shrink, then unclench and jump..."

"I know, I also saw... something..." He admitted.

A while later they were already in the car, and Lindsay was sitting on the back seat with the girl, while Connor was driving to the hospital. When they reached the place they both rushed inside and gave the girl to doctors. They examined her and decided that beside the weakness she was completely fine, but still thought it would be better if she stayed in the hospital for at least a day.

It was already the evening when Connor and Lindsay came back to the hotel. Lindsay insisted to stay in the hospital with the girl they have found, because she thought that for this girl, having somebody who could give her comfort was necessary and, as they had no idea who she was and who her parents were, they were the only people around.

"Are you sure you don't want to go, eat something?" Connor asked, when they reached their rooms' doors. "I don't remember seeing you eat anything today beside breakfast."

"I'm really sure. I'm not hungry. The only thing I want is to go to my room, take a shower and go to bed. I'm exhausted." she answered with a smile, and opened her door with the key "Good night."

With this she disappeared in her room, leaving Connor standing on the corridor for a little while longer. He couldn't stop feeling a bit suspicious and worried – he had no idea what this strange thing they had both seen was, and touching it was one of the most irresponsible things Lindsay could do. However, he couldn't be mad at her for it – she did it to save this girl, and he would do the same if he was on her place.

In the morning, when she didn't show up on the breakfast, as the team was always meeting, Connor started to be really worried. He tried his best not to show this around other members of the group, but immediately after he finished drinking his coffee he went to her room. He knocked to the door once, then again, but she didn't open and he also didn't hear her shout anything to him. He reached for the doorknob and opened the door, a bit confused. He could swear Lindsay always locked the door – at least that was what she had once told him. He went inside and looked around, but the room was completely silent, like Lindsay wasn't there. Then he noticed her arm sticking out of under the quilt, and as he saw it to be bluish he realised, that all of his worries were right. Lindsay caught the virus.

He ran to his friends and immediately cried for Claire and Anton to come to her room. When only they looked at Lindsay they agreed that they have to take her to the hospital. A longer while later the whole team was already standing in the hospital, waiting for the doctor to tell them anything, even if they knew that they are not going to be told anything they didn't know yet.

"You were with her yesterday Connor, weren't you?" asked Anton, when they were sitting in the conference room and discussing what to do next. Connor only nodded his head. "Do you have any idea how could she got infected?"

Connor had a lot of ideas how it could happened. It was probably the only thing he was thinking about for few hours and the more he did it, the more he was sure that this _thing _had to be the reason of Lindsay's illness. After all, he was in every place she has been to and if there was any other way she could got infected, then he should be ill too.

He explained everything what had happened the previous day, and they all decided to go to the meadow again. They were planning to try to catch it and examine, so they may find any hint what it is.

"Are you sure you want to go with us?" Anton asked Connor, when they were getting ready. Hendricks noticed how distressed Connor looked, even more than the rest of the team. He knew that it is because he was blaming himself, thinking that he could prevent it from happening.

"Yes, I'm sure. I feel fine, and I can't help Lindsay by staying here or sitting with her." Anton nodded.

He knew, that as much as all of them were good friends and they were all ready to do a lot for each other, Connor and Lindsay had even stronger and closer friendship than others. There were a lot of moments when he, and other members of the team wondered, if these two were more than just friends and even more moments when they were almost sure they were. But he also knew that even if they had feelings for each other, Lindsay would never act on them not knowing if Connor shared them, and Connor would never do anything against the rules, which also meant that he would never actually admit, that he might love Lindsay. But it didn't stop him from being very worried about her, every time she was or could be in danger.

They drove to the same place Connor and Lindsay had gotten the day before, and then Doyle went with them to the meadow. After small problems with finding it, the team finally reached the place. At first sight nothing has changed, but then Connor noticed, that there was a spherical thing exactly in the place where the substance from the little girl's head landed. It even looked very similar, but was much, much bigger.

"What is it?" Peter immediately asked and went into its direction.

"Don't go there!" Connor shouted, and everyone looked at him confused "It looks like the thing Lindsay touched! It may be the cause of illness!"

They called for people who were helping them, and in half an hour they had all necessary equipment to approach it without fear of getting ill. During those thirty minutes they could see the thing growing – it was slowly, but visibly swelling. Then, they put their overalls on and approached it. Connor extended his hand, which was covered in protective gloves and gently touched the strange object. Again, there was an audible hiss, and then the cloud of black powder was ejected into the air. There was much more of it than on the previous day. Then the thing, which was much smaller, jumped and landed not far from them.

Anton went to it, and carefully put it in the protective box, while Connor and Peter took samples of the black powder. They all rushed back to the mobile lab to make tests. During the time before the results were expected, Connor decided to go to the hospital and visit Lindsay. She was lying unconsciously on the bed, her whole face and hands were light blue and she was breathing heavily. Connor sat on the chair, standing next to the bed and took her hand in his.

"We're going to find a way to help you..." he whispered, with a hope in his voice.

He couldn't stand the thought, that they may not find a cure, and it will mean Lindsay, and all of the other ill people die. He couldn't let her die, he didn't have the time to actually tell her how he feels, to try to be something more to her than just a friend from work.

He has been sitting there until Claire came and told him, that they've got the results and they should do the meeting. He reluctantly left Lindsay's room, and went with the woman to the O.S.I.R. mobile lab. The whole team was already gathered in the conference room.

"So, what do we have?" he asked, when he sat down on his chair.

"We examined both, this strange thing and the black powder which was ejected out of it... We have no idea what this substance is, we didn't find it anywhere... It seems like it doesn't exist in any place on the Earth... But it is very much alive... At least it seems so..."

"You mean, it could come from anywhere other than Earth?" asked Peter, and Anton shrugged.

"It could, but I'm not saying it did... But, the black powder is more interesting... Under the microscope, it looks like this..." he showed them the photo and everyone caught their breaths.

In the picture, enlarged powder looked like a round bug with a very wide mouth and hundreds very small and thin legs. Its eyes were bright green.

"It looks like something from the horror film..." said Peter, and the rest nodded.

"Do you think the virus may be transferred by this?" asked Connor, looking at Anton.

"It IS the virus..." said Anton, and everyone looked at him confused "It sounds unbelievable, but it really is it. And I can also explain, why the blood is black, and bodies of all of the ill people are blue... You see the wide mouth?" he asked, and the team nodded "When the virus is already in the blood, it attacks the erythrocyte and kind of swallows it... And bodies are becoming blue, because swallowed erythrocytes can't transfer the oxygen anywhere..."

"Is there any way we can stop and kill the virus?" asked Connor again, and Anton sighed.

"We don't know, yet... But we're working on it."

So, beside the knowledge what everyone are actually fighting with, they didn't have anything new. Connor sighed. Of course, everything they have just found out was very useful, but he would rather know how they can help everyone, especially Lindsay. Immediately, he upbraided himself – he can't think like that. They have to help _everyone_, and Lindsay is only one person from a big group of people, so he shouldn't put the importance of her recovery in front of others, but he couldn't help it. He didn't know anyone else there, and he actually loved her.

He went back to the hospital, and he was really surprised when he noticed the same girl they have found the previous day, standing next to Lindsay's bed. She was holding the teddy bear they had bought her in the hospital shop. She didn't seem to notice him come in, and she jumped when he gently touched her shoulder.

"Is she going to be okay?" she asked, looking at him with her big, sad eyes and he nodded after a short while. What else he could do? She was too small to understand how the situation really looked.

Only then he looked at Lindsay. He noticed that her body was getting bluer, and he sighed. If they don't find something quickly... No, he couldn't think like that. They'll find a cure and Lindsay's going to be completely fine.

"Why do I feel fine?" the girl asked, and he shrugged.

And then it hit him! She was exactly in the same place, where Lindsay, and she also had contact with the strange virus. She should be in the same state as Lindsay, but she seemed to be completely healthy! He kneeled in front of her, with a huge smile on his face.

"What's your name?" he asked, when he realised that he didn't even know it.

"Zoey..." she looked at him confused, because she didn't understand the sudden change in his appearance and mood.

"You've got really beautiful name, Zoey... I'm Connor, and this is Lindsay. You said you feel fine, right?" the girl nodded "Wouldn't you want to help us?"

"How?" she looked even more confused.

"You are the only person that feels fine, you know? Maybe you will be able to help all of the people here, do you want to?"

"Sure..."

Connor nodded, and left the room to look for a doctor. It took him a while, but finally he was able to find one. They talked for a while, and Doyle told him about his suspicions, that Zoey may be the key to the problem.

"Yes, of course, she is the only one who had contact with the virus and isn't ill, but I'm not sure. We made her a lot of test and didn't notice anything unusual..."

"I understand, nevertheless I would want to take her to the lab, for more tests... Do you think it's possible?"

"I think yes. We wanted to release her from hospital today, to make place for patients that are ill, but we agreed to wait one more day. As you know, we still haven't found her parents..."

"Great, thank you, sir."

All of the team members were surprised, when Connor suddenly appeared in the mobile lab with Zoey. He explained them why he brought her, and even though they were sceptical, they agreed that they don't lose anything with trying. They made the girl any possible test they could think of, that could be useful for them.

"You were right..!" said Claire, when they had all of the tests results. "There is something in her blood... Something that wasn't there during the last test... We can't identify the substance, but when we extracted it and checked how the virus will react, it worked! Under the microscope it looked like the virus was dissolved by it..!"

"Do you think we can give it to all of those ill people?" asked Peter, and Claire hesitated for a while.

"Yes, I think we can. It can't be dangerous for human body if it is in Zoey's blood. I'm only wondering how much of it we should give them, but I think a small dose at the beginning, to see if it works."

They went to the hospital with their discovery, and after Claire explained to them what they have found out, the doctors agreed to give it to the sickest people. Something unsaid was that they were actually waiting for an attack, that'll cause their death. The time of it couldn't be expected – some of the people had it at the same day of their arrive at the hospital, but some of the first victims of the virus were still staying there, alive.

Connor felt too nervous to sit and wait, just like the others, and he decided to go to Lindsay's room. There weren't a lot of changes in her condition – neither for good or bad, and it let him feel a little relief.

"If everything goes well, you'll be fine soon..." he whispered in her ear, when he leaned to kiss her forehead "But now you still need to be strong... I know you can... I love you..."

Three hours, that went by before they got any information, seemed to last at least four times more. But news were good, and the patients they gave the substance were slowly recovering. They were ecstatic when they heard that. They had the cure! They could actually heal all of those ill people, and don't watch them die! But now, the other question appeared – where did the substance come from, and how did it get to Zoey's blood?

On the next morning, already all of the patients got the cure, because even the small amount of it was enough to help. Connor decided to stay with Lindsay until she was fine, and he refused to leave her room even for a minute. He was sitting there, holding her hand and whispering to her. He couldn't feel, but feel happy – now, that he was sure that she will soon be fine.

It took a while, but during the few hours her breathing became easier, the temperature dropped, and the blue colour of her body disappeared. She opened her eyes and smiled, when she saw him.

"Hey..." she greeted him, and Connor jumped. He wasn't looking at her and didn't notice that she had woken up.

"Lindsay..!" he caught her hand stronger, and smiled back at her "How do you feel?"

"Fine, I think... But could be better..."

"I'm so glad... Do you... Do you realise what how worried we have been? How I have felt when I was thinking that you're lying there, and we can't help you..."

"Everything's going to be fine... You were staying with me sometimes..."

"Yes, I was... How do you know?"

"I heard you talking to me... But I couldn't answer you... Did you actually mean what you said?"

He could hear something in her voice. Was it a fear, or maybe a hope? He couldn't decide, but it made him understand what she was thinking about. He didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell her everything, but he wasn't sure if it was the right time for it. Luckily, the doctor came into the room and rescued him.

"I see you're awake now, Miss Donner. Few more hours and you'll feel completely fine, but now you should rest."

He left the room and went back to the mobile lab, where he knew that the rest of the team was. He wanted to tell them the good news about Lindsay, but practically forgot about it when he saw their distressed faces.

"Has something happened?" He asked, but nobody answered him for a while. Then, finally, Claire decided to talk.

"Zoey's gone... We wanted to make some more test to find out how the cure got to her blood... I was in the same room as her, only turned around to take a syringe... And when I looked back at the chair she was gone!"

"She was talking something about her parents coming earlier..." said Peter "I heard her shouting outside, and when I looked through the window, she was standing in front of the lab... But when we went out she was gone! We were looking for her, but she wasn't anywhere!"

Connor didn't know what to say. From what they had told him, he understood, that the girl's behaviour was actually strange. She seemed to feel fine in the lab, she talked with every member of the team, and he would never suspect that she may just run away.

Lindsay's recovery was as fast, as any other patient's. The doctors said that she can be released only a day later, because all of her test results were normal. She was very happy, because she already had enough of laying in bed and doing nothing. The team greeted her in front of the hospital, when she went out of the building with Connor. They all went to the hotel, because they had to get ready to leave.

"Are you ready?" asked Connor, when he slowly went into her room.

He noticed her, with her bag on the bed, and some things around. She didn't have to answer him and he smiled.

"You know, you're already the third person that checks on me... First was Peter, then Anton, now you..."

"You scared the bejabbers out of us, what did you expect? We were all very worried about you..." he said "We didn't know if we'll be able to help you..."

"But now I'm fine!"

"Yes, but you seem to have some kind of magnesium for troubles... The werewolf attacked you, Mishenka appeared in your house, now you catch the virus... I could name so many more situations..."

"It's just coincident. It could be any one of us.."

"Yes, but it was you... I was so scared I'll lose you..." he stepped closer, and touched her cheek "And if you still want to know - yes, I meant everything I said in the hospital..." He leaned and kissed her.

She was surprised at first, but soon her arms went around his neck and she kissed him back. The kiss showed everything, that was between them, all of the feelings they had for each other, as well as the happiness that it finally happened. They were so lost in it, that they didn't even notice Anton, who opened the door to the room, looking for them. Hendricks smiled at the sight of two of them, and closed the door silently.

"I don't want to ruin the moment, but the rest is probably already waiting for us..."said Connor, when they parted because of lack of the air.

"I need five minutes and I'm ready."

A while later they went out, and Connor was right. Everyone was already standing next to their cars, with their bags already hidden in trunks. They joined them and soon the team were on the way back home. Lindsay turned around, looking back at the sight of the town behind the car. She smiled, because she knew that everything was going to be okay. Not only here, but she felt that everything will be perfect between her and Connor, too.


End file.
